Sharper Two Year Olds Make The Track

We already have one decent two-year-old in Master Carpenter and we have two more two-year-olds making their debuts today. Both Seaham and Urban Dreamer would be among our sharper sorts and have showed enough speed and potential at home for us to target them at the £10,000 Racing Post Bonus maidens. However, these races tend to be much more competitive than non-bonus versions and with few of these races so far in 2013, both races are strong on paper.

Seaham is a half-brother to two winners over five and six furlongs

and is Myboycharlie's, a very useful Group 1 sprinting two-year-old, first UK runner (has had winners in Southern Hemisphere and only Irish runner third). This Newbury maiden is traditionally very strong and this year's event has representatives from all the top yards and some expensive purchases so looks no exception. The only runner with experience is Paul Cole's Meritocracy and he finished third in a very competitive maiden at Kempton on Saturday (fourth Vodka Time won at Newmarket Wednesday) so sets a high standard. It certainly won't be an easy task and a mid-division performance is normally good enough to win an ordinary maiden but we're hopeful Seaham will put up a positive performance.

Urban Dreamer faces a field of fifteen rivals at Bath but his race doesn't look quite as strong. Obviously Beau Nash showed a useful level of form on his debut when second to Master Carpenter on his debut and with that form working out so well, he will be hard to beat with the benefit of experience. Urban Dreamer is also by a first season sire in Intense Focus and he is already off the mark with two winners from seven runners, while his dam was a very useful sprint handicapper in Ireland.

 

He shows plenty of speed at home and we're slightly concerned he might not stay a stiff five furlong on soft ground so might prefer it to dry out, although drawn out in stall fifteen, he might be better off if the ground is soft as they will come stands side, giving him a good draw. All in all, it will be very interesting to see how both two-year-olds get on and hopefully they put up a good show and show promise for the future.

 We also have Burnt Fingers in the sprint maiden at Bath and she made a very promising return when third at Leicester two weeks ago. That was over seven furlongs and we're not sure if dropping back in trip is the right thing to do, as there is a mix of speed and stamina in her pedigree. However, the form she showed at Leicester gives her each-way claims in a big field and this filly is likely to progress throughout the season and sure to be winning at some point.

At Wolverhampton last night, Ice Tres ran well on her handicap debut, finishing third in a 56-70 Fillies Handicap. She seemed to prefer a return to more patient tactics, although the slow pace meant it wasn't easy to come from behind. She's handicapped to win if things go her way this summer.